The surprising Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball, while our beloved LA Dodgers are currently in second place with a losing record. What is the secret of Tampa Bay&#8217;s success? Readers of this site will know in advance, but for the rest of you: TACOS. According to the website Zone Blitz: It…

The Power of the Taco ~ Tampa Bay

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<p>Marina Watanabe is director of video and a reporter at L.A. TACO based in Koreatown. Previously, she worked as a video reporter for 404 by Los Angeles Times and a video producer at Condé Nast publications Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Them.</p>


Marina Watanabe

Rows of burned cars in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire that destroyed much of Altadena in January, 2025. Photo by Maks Ksenjak for L.A. TACO.

Books

We Don’t Need to Imagine Octavia Butler’s Post-Apocalyptic L.A. It’s Already Here.

<p>Professional punk and Editor-In-Chief for James Beard Award-winning L.A. TACO. Associate Producer for JBA-winning Las Crónicas Del Taco. Former restaurant scout for Jonathan Gold. Co-author of &#8220;Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico (2019, Abrams) and &#8220;Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling&#8221; (2023, Abrams).</p>


Javier Cabral

Den of Den's Tea posing next to their mascot.

People

L.A.’s Hidden Matcha Master: Masanori Den Shirakata, the Low-Key Legend Only Insiders Know

Shawn Stern playing at the Terragram Ballroom on Sunday, May 18th, 2025.

Interview

Punk Icon Shawn Stern On the World’s Best Underground Scene (and Surviving Slam Dancing in the Desert)

Obituary

The L.A. Food and Drink World Mourns Jose “Chuy” Tovar, a Community Legend, Dead at 55

<p>Alexis Zhou (she/her) is a freelance writer. Always down for hot pot, H Mart, and housing policy reforms.</p>


Alexis Zhou

Food

Homeless Chinese Man In DTLA Goes Viral With ‘American-Style Begging’  Videos, Branding Him Both a Hero and Villain Across the Pacific

<p>Yaileen Ramos is a young Latina born and raised in East L.A. In her free time, she enjoys watching the Dodgers and Lakers. Yaileen aspires to be synonymous with her city.</p>


Yaileen Ramos

New Dancing With the Stars champions Xochitl Gomez and Val Chmerkovskiy

Echo Park’s Own Xochitl Gomez Wins The Finale of Dancing With the Stars

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<div id="message-content-1250858460501901333" class="markup_a7e664 messageContent_abea64">Valeria Macias is a student reporter at USC, where she double majors in Journalism and NGOs and social change. Through her work in publications like the LA Times, NBC, Telemundo, Boyle Heights Beat, ABC7, and many others, Macias has amplified the voices within her local communities. Most of her reporting focuses on the local Angelino community and shines a light on issues of gentrification, street vending, city government, and more.</div>
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Valeria Macias

a woman in a restaurant prepares a plate of food

Tacos

A Reddit Post Is Helping One of L.A.’s Most Iconic Mexican Restaurants, But It’s Far From Safe

<p>One of L.A. TACO&#8217;s co-founders, Hadley Tomicki is a writer and editor on food, travel, and culture whose work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, UrbanDaddy, High Times, and many other places.</p>


Hadley Tomicki

A chicken sandwich on a sesame seed bun, with tomato and lettuce

Weekend Eats: Questlove’s Burgers and Mini Kabob Enter the Westside

<p>Izzy Ramirez is a Los Angeles-based staff reporter with L.A. TACO, documenting immigration enforcement and state power as it unfolds on the ground. Their work centers real-time alerts and long-term public archiving throughout the Southern California region.</p>


Izzy Ramirez

News

Bye-Bye Bondi: Trump Fires Attorney General, Accused of Continuing to Cover Up for Epstein Files

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Blending her time in the kitchen as a line cook with her passion for storytelling, Lauren Bethke writes about community, inclusivity and the city she loves the most—Los Angeles.</span></p>


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Lauren Bethke

a sign in the style of a parking sign: "NO I.C.E. PLEASE GET A REAL JOB"

Signage

Who Is L.A.’s Hero Posting Up These Anti-ICE Parking Signs?

<p>A.k.a. Afroxander; Weekend Editor at L.A. Taco and a lecturer at San Diego State University. He has covered arts, culture, history, politics, and sports with an emphasis on Latin America and its U.S. diaspora for over two decades.</p>


Ivan Fernandez

<p>Juan Izguerra is L.A. TACO&#8217;s community coordinator and was born and raised in Pomona, California. As an L.A. resident, Juan enjoys exploring the small, hidden places of the SGV, Inland Empire, and wherever his stomach takes him.</p>


Juan Izguerra

<p>Born and raised in Riverside, Zach Cordner is a professional photographer and publisher of <i>The Riversider</i> Magazine. Zach created the print magazine 5 years ago for the love of his hometown. Tired of the negative stereotypes that Riverside and the IE have, Zach created a high-quality, photography-based magazine that highlights the amazing people, businesses and restaurants of Riverside with positive and uplifting stories about the community.</p>


Zach Cordner

<p>Ken Crawford is the Editor-At-Large at Riversider Magazine and co-founder of Sixty Miles East. He is a born and raised Riversider and is passionate about shining light on Inland Empire stories that would get lost in the shadow of Los Angeles.</p>


Ken Crawford

Inland Empire

The Ultimate Guide to the IE: Inner Inland Empire

<p class="p1">Memo Torres is the Director of Engagement and multimedia journalist for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco. He is also the host of the Daily Memo and writes for Apple Maps’ ‘Where Memo Torres Eats in L.A.’ You can see him on Netflix&#8217;s Taco Chronicles and Pressure Cooker.  You can hear him on KCRW’s ‘Good Food’ occasionally. He was a finalist for the Ruben Salazar Award for Latino journalists and a former third-generation landscaper.</p>


Memo Torres

<p>Erwin Recinos is a seasoned visual artist with an eye for capturing life as a working commuter aboard public transportation in and around Los Angeles. For 20 years now, Recinos has been documenting the urban landscape, street culture, and Hispanic communities of Los Angeles utilizing his daily routine and the city of Los Angeles as an inspiration. Recinos also works with popular food and event websites such as LATACO.com and Eater LA to capture the cuisine and culture that is so important to the city of Los Angeles and across Southern California.</p>


Erwin Recinos

Daily Memo: Hospitalizations, Car Crashes, and Kavanaugh Stops Continue with ICE

L.A. TACO STAFF

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<p><span class="OYPEnA font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none">Janette Villafana is an award-winning bilingual multimedia journalist. Her heart lies in community-based reporting, and her work is highly centered on showcasing and uplifting community voices, with a significant focus on the Latino community. She developed her beat at L.A. TACO, covering street vending communities in Los Angeles. Past work has been featured on NBC, LAist, Latino Rebels, and more. She is currently featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington in an exhibit titled “¡De última hora! Latinas Report Breaking News.”</span></p>
